Kathleen Raine and the Tradition of Eden and Exile

For the twentieth-century British poet Kathleen Raine, the myth of Eden and the experience of exile spring from an ever-living tradition at the source of all artistic creation. In its current use, the word tradition refers both to the dynamic act of transmission itself—generally by word of mouth—and to the static body of past knowledge shared by a community. This second aspect is the reason why tradition is frequently contrasted with modernity, whereas in the sense of transmission it is concerned with the future and even, in Raine’s poetry, with the timeless, the eternal present. Raine’s connection with tradition is established through William Blake and the Romantics, as well as through the Sophia Perennis or perennial philosophy (Huxley vii). This article addresses the knowledge of Eden and exile as an object of transmission, as well as the process of that transmission itself. First, it defines andexamines the tradition of Eden and exile in relation to Raine’s work. Then, it conducts an in-depth study on the way this tradition is inherited from her maternal lineage. Finally, it explores the question of her paternal and Blakean intellectual heritage,with particular attention to Raine’s scholarly engagement and writings.